So naturally, I thought: what if we turned these into songs?
The tool: Google's brand new Lyria 3
Google launched Lyria 3 this week. It's an AI music tool built into Gemini that generates 30-second tracks from a text prompt. You describe what you want, and it creates vocals, lyrics, instrumentals, the lot.
I grabbed the funniest diary extracts and asked Lyria to turn them into a Reggaeton track.
My wife is a Zumba instructor, so if anyone was going to quality-check Latin music, it was her.
The result? She was dancing around the kitchen.
Then we made a Bachata version. Different vibe, same ridiculous diary entries. Both tracks had us in stitches.
Then the kids got involved
Arsenal beat Spurs in the London derby this afternoon (sorry to any Tottenham fans reading this).
My 8-year-old was buzzing. So we made a victory anthem about Gyokeres and his trademark goal celebration. We choose an Afropop rhythm and he wanted to play it again and again.
Then my 6-year-old wanted her turn. She loves Pictionary and is very proud of her drawing skills. So we made a K-Pop track about how she's the best drawer in the family.
She's been singing the chorus all afternoon.
What worked:
Speed: The speed is ridiculous. Describe what you want, hit generate, and you have a full track with vocals and lyrics in about 10 seconds.
Free: No sign-up beyond your Google account. No extra cost.
Genre Range: The genre range surprised me. Reggaeton, Bachata, K-Pop, football anthems. Each one actually sounded like that genre, not some generic "AI music" sound.
Family Engagement: And the family engagement was off the charts. This wasn't me testing a tool while the kids watched. Everyone was suggesting ideas, laughing at results, requesting "one more song."
What didn't work:
30-second cap. Just when you're getting into it, the song ends. My son's Arsenal anthem needed at least a full minute to really land.
No lyric editing. You can't tweak the lyrics after generation. If it gets a word wrong, you regenerate the whole thing and hope it comes out better.
Adults only. Lyria 3 requires you to be 18+. There's no kid-friendly mode. I was driving the prompts while the kids told me what to type. That worked fine for us, but it means this is a "together" activity, not something you hand over to your child.
Bottom line: If you want 30 minutes of guaranteed family laughs next weekend, open Gemini, type "make a [genre] song about [something funny from your family's life]" and hit generate. You'll thank me later.
⭐ Also this week: StudyCat review will be live tomorrow
I will be publishing a review of StudyCat, the language learning app for kids ages 3-10.
If your child is learning English, Spanish, French, German, or Chinese, it's worth a look. KidSAFE listed, ad-free, and used by 14 million families worldwide.
The speech recognition feature that gets kids actually speaking (not just tapping) is the standout.
Keep an eye out on the website for it tomorrow
👀 Something's coming...
I've been building something behind the scenes for the past few weeks. Can't say too much yet, but if you've ever wished there was a simple way to do guided AI projects with your kids (step by step, age-appropriate, no tech skills needed)... stay tuned.
More details soon. You'll hear about it here first.
